Shepherd's Pie
by ronniekins77
Summary: Ron is assigned with the task of bringing a Shepherd's Pie to the Lovegoods.


**A/N: **Written in Jan. of 2005, but is not AU (though my description of the Lovegood house is quite different than the one in DH.) I've always liked the Ron/Luna relationship, romantic or otherwise (in this case, otherwise). Also, a certain part of this fic was inspired by _Boy Meets World_ - can you spot it?

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Ron Weasley's face was the picture of confusion as his mother backed him out of the doorway, shoving a Shepherd's pie into his hands. "Wha - "

"Now that goes to the Lovegoods, Ron. All right?"

"What? Why do I have to take it over?"

"Because," Molly Weasley sighed, "I don't have the time. I'm making all the food for the reception."

"I really doubt people will want to eat after they've seen a dead body," Ron said.

"Ronald," his mum replied, her eyes glowing.

Ron took this as his cue as to leave. He walked down the sandy path of the Burrow, glaring at the chickens who followed him. He clutched the container of food to his chest and kicked the dirt as he walked.

He didn't know why his mother was making him take the food to Luna and her father. He had never really liked the girl all that much and his mum knew that. She always made him feel uncomfortable, whether she came to Burrow to pay Ginny a visit, or whether she was spying on him from up in her treehouse.

Of course, Ron was sorry that Luna's mother had died. But he didn't fancy the idea of walking up to the Lovegoods on the day before the funeral and trying to be cheery. He didn't want to hand over a plate of food as if that could ease their pain. Honestly, it was stupid. Besides, what if Luna started crying? Ron didn't know how to deal with girls, let alone crying, emotional ones.

Before he knew it, he had reached the Lovegood's house. They only lived two blocks from the Burrow, but when he was normally forced to come here, he took baby steps. The house was the most recognizable one in the whole neighborhood. It was about as wide as the Burrow was tall and had pink shutters. There wasn't a front yard, in Ron's opinion - just a massive garden. The garden didn't have regular daisies or roses - instead, all the Lovegoods had were exotic plants. The flowers were huge, with splashes of orange, blue, and purple on the tips. And when you looked up to see the old, raggedy roof, you could see the very top of the treehouse in the Lovegood backyard.

Ron took a steadying breath and knocked on the front door. No one answered. He knocked again. Still, no one came to the door. He began to feel increasingly nervous and checked his watch. Only a couple of minutes had passed, and yet, Ron felt like he had been standing on this porch forever. "Mr. Lovegood?" he called. "Luna?"

A loud hum was his reply. Scrunching his eyebrows, Ron placed the humming sound as coming from the backyard. He debated whether he should stay on the porch or go investigate the sound. Upon hearing the noise again, he opted for the latter.

He headed over to the back gate and opened it, looking around. The Lovegoods had a brilliant backyard, too. The grass was a bright green and there were tall bushes around the edges of the yard. He even spotted a pumpkin patch in the corner. Not a gnome was in sight.

"Anyone home?" He crossed the yard and nearly dropped the container in his hands.

Luna Lovegood was dancing.

Ron was so taken aback he couldn't do anything but watch. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly open, humming. She moved her arms through the air, standing on the tips of her toes. She twirled around the grass with such grace, Ron knew that she must have done this thousands of times before.

Ron leaned against the treehouse, still clutching the Shepherd's pie. He was curious as to what this weird girl was going to do next. Sure enough, he wasn't disappointed.

Luna stopped dancing briefly, her eyes still closed. She removed her socks and threw them away from her. She then reached into the pocket of her sundress and pulled out a tube of lipstick. She began dancing again, now in a ballet like fashion. Her humming became louder as she smeared the red lipstick all over her white face.

Ron's eyes grew wide as he snapped out of the trance he had been in. Why the heck was she acting so odd anyway? Her mother had just died. Blown up in some kind of explosion. And now she was dancing and haphazardly applying lipstick to herself as if she didn't care? Wasn't she sad about her mother's death at all?

"Er...Luna?" he said, a bit gruffly.

The girl stopped dancing at once, swaying slightly at being so suddenly thrown off balance. Her eyes opened and there was a wild look in them. "Um - hello, Ronald." Her voice was small.

He was surprised. She didn't sound as loony as she did usually. Her voice actually sounded, well, normal.

"Here," Ron said quickly, handing her the container of Shepherd's pie. "It's from my mum." He shoved his hands into his pockets.

Luna looked at him, then at the food. When she raised her eyes to meet his, he was shocked to see that her eyes were brimming with tears. "Thank you," she said with a tiny quiver to her voice.

He felt immensely stupid. Of course Luna would miss her mother. Why else would she be crying? Besides, she was human after all. Even if she was loony. Even if she didn't always act like she was a part of Earth. Maybe dancing was a part of her grieving process.

"Thank you very much," she repeated.

"You're welcome."

With that, he turned away and walked back to the gate. Luna had set down the Shepherd's pie and was now dancing again. Somehow, Ron knew she'd be okay.

He could hear her humming all the way down the street.


End file.
